Psychological Research Methods
Exam Materials
Course Introduction
Psychological Research Methods provides an in-depth exploration of the scientific tools and approaches used in investigating human behavior and mental processes. This course covers the fundamentals of research design, including experimental and non-experimental methods, data collection techniques, statistical analysis, and ethical considerations. Students will learn how to formulate research questions, develop hypotheses, design studies, analyze data, and interpret results. Emphasis is placed on critical evaluation of psychological research, understanding validity and reliability, and applying methodological skills to real-world issues. Through practical exercises and assignments, students will build the competence necessary to conduct independent psychological research and assess published findings critically.
Recommended Textbook
Psychology From Inquiry to Understanding 2nd Australia Edition by Scott O. Lilienfeld
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2610 Verified Questions
2610 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: Science and Pseudoscience in Psychology
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127 Verified Questions
127 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) A key aspect of scientific scepticism is
A)critical thinking.
B)dogmatic belief.
C)narrow-mindedness.
D)reliance on authority.
Answer: A
Q2) Psychologists most interested in the physiological bases of behaviour are known as
A)Experimental psychologists
B)Clinical psychologists
C)Biological psychologists
D)Forensic psychologists
Answer: C
Q3) Using the principle of Occam's Razor, a good theory is one that is the ________ explanation for the available data.
A)most complex
B)most popular
C)most conventional
D)most simple
Answer: D
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Chapter 2: Research Methods
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113 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) One difficulty in conducting medical research is that participants often assume that any treatment will be effective in alleviating their symptoms. Therefore, a researcher has to design an experiment that measures the influence of A)random selection.
B)medical confounds.
C)the Rosenthal effect.
D)the placebo effect.
Answer: D
Q2) If a researcher investigated the topic of aggression by simply recording instances of aggression on a school playground, in a place of business, in a nightclub, and in many other everyday settings, he or she would be using the research design of ________.
Answer: naturalistic observation
Q3) When judging people, we often focus on how closely they fit with our stereotypes of particular groups. According to Kahneman, this is an example of ________ thinking.
Answer: System 1
Q4) According to the authors, many superstitious behaviours result from ________.
Answer: illusory correlation
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Chapter 3: Biological Psychology
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Sample Questions
Q1) Endorphins are ________.
A)found where neurons meet skeletal muscles
B)less powerful than enkaphalins
C)pain-reducing neurotransmitters
D)radically different in function from neurotransmitters
Answer: C
Q2) A phenotype is
A)a person's genetic makeup.
B)our set of observable traits.
C)made up of dominant genes only.
D)made up of recessive genes only.
Answer: B
Q3) ________ play(s)a critical role as a neurotransmitter that stimulates muscles to contract.
A)Acetylcholine
B)GABA
C)Dopamine
D)Endorphins
Answer: A
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Sensation and Perception
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Sample Questions
Q1) A common symptom associated with depression is loss of appetite. Research indicates that this occurs because
A)our taste sensitivity is heightened by the neurotransmitters targeted by antidepressant drugs.
B)our taste thresholds are increased by the neurotransmitters targeted by antidepressant drugs.
C)our taste thresholds are unchanged by the neurotransmitters targeted by antidepressant drugs.
D)we are more likely to label food as "disgusting" when we are emotionally aroused.
Q2) A whistle that gives a sound so high that it can only be heard by dogs, but not humans, exploits which aspect of the auditory system?
A)Loudness
B)Timbre
C)Pitch
D)Decibels
Q3) Describe the general process of how light enters the eye and is transmitted to the brain to be perceived.
Q4) Explain why food tastes different when we have a cold versus when we do not.
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6
Chapter 5: Consciousness
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Sample Questions
Q1) ________ drugs alter our conscious experience by altering the chemical processes in neurons.
Q2) Both infrequent and habitual use of ________ may cause users to experience distortions in visual, auditory, or any other mode of perception.
Q3) What theoretical explanation of dreams explains dreaming as resulting from random neural transmission and interpretation?
A)Activation-synthesis theory
B)Dream protection theory
C)Information processing theory
D)Neurocognitive theory
Q4) Many over-the-counter remedies have names that resemble the actual chemical or physiological mechanism that they impact. Which of the following product names would be most likely to triggers feelings of sleepiness?
A)Superserotone
B)Melatonex
C)Dopaminex
D)Adrenalaccel
Q5) The most commonly reported sleep problem is ________.
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Chapter 6: Learning
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Sample Questions
Q1) John Watson offered a live, white rat to Little Albert and then made a loud noise behind his head by striking a gong with a steel hammer. After several pairings, the child came to fear the white rat. The white rat served as the ________ in his study.
A)discriminative stimulus
B)conditioned stimulus
C)unconditioned stimulus
D)unconditional stimulus
Q2) According to the research of David Klahr, what type of instruction/learning results in the greatest and most immediate ability to solve problems?
A)Discovery learning
B)Accelerated learning
C)Direct instruction
D)Vicarious learning
Q3) The process by which a CS gradually loses its ability to produce a CR is called
Q4) ________ is credited with developing the theory of classical conditioning.
Q5) Describe how you would condition a child who is afraid of cats to enjoy playing with a neighbour's cat.
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Chapter 7: Memory
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Sample Questions
Q1) Because of Mr Vargas' stereotype regarding the mathematical and scientific abilities of his female students, he often fails to recall exemplary female students whom he has taught. This forgetting is most likely the result of ________.
Q2) Which two types of memories are both considered to be part of explicit memory?
A)Semantic and episodic
B)Semantic and procedural
C)Conceptual and schematic
D)Reconstructive and recalled
Q3) Which of the following situations is most likely to create a flashbulb memory?
A)Watching a favourite movie for the 15th time
B)Playing tennis with a friend
C)Finding out that one or one's partner is pregnant
D)Attending a basketball game with one's father and grandfather
Q4) A high school student's organised set of expectations about the order of events that will take place in a new class is an example of a ________.
A)script
B)chunk
C)semantic network
D)primer
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Chapter 8: Thinking, Reasoning and Language
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Sample Questions
Q1) The meanings derived from words or sentences are collectively known as the ________ of language.
A)semantics
B)proxemics
C)syntatics
D)pragmatics
Q2) Spoken English and American Sign Language have ________ syntactic structures.
Q3) Your family dog is named "Happy". Any time your young child sees a dog, she calls out "Happy". This is an example of ________.
A)overgeneralisation
B)undergeneralisation
C)incorrect word meaning
D)comprehension before production
Q4) Which of the following was the individual who was chained to a potty chair in the back of a bedroom and deprived of social interaction until she was 13 years old?
A)Helen Keller
B)Genie
C)Noam Chomsky
D)Raymond
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Chapter 9: Intelligence and Iq Testing
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158 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) Who is engaged in abstract thinking?
A)Susie, who says that most apples are coloured red
B)Benito, who says the sun might explode one day
C)Gene, who argues that the Red Sox are better than the Yankees this year
D)Marlita, who says her favourite television show is Hannah Montana
Q2) The tendency to underperform on standardised tests due to perceptions that you come from a group that has fared poorly on such tests is called ________.
Q3) According to Gardner, there are as many as ________ types of intelligence.
A)three
B)five
C)seven
D)nine
Q4) ________ proposed that intelligence was comprised of analytical, practical, and creative-thinking skills.
Q5) The ________ is the most widely used intelligence test for adults.
Q6) Women tend to outscore men on ________ tasks.
Q7) Stern's formula for calculating IQ is ________.
Q8) Gardner's intelligence type that is associated with the ability to excel in the arena of sports is ________ intelligence.
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Chapter 10: Human Development
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is an example of a primary sex characteristic?
A)Changes in vocal tone
B)Growth of the breasts
C)Growth of the genitals
D)Growth of facial hair
Q2) According to Piaget, one's level of moral development is linked to one's level of ________.
A)intelligence
B)social development
C)emotional development
D)cognitive development
Q3) The major issue of ________ explores how development is influenced by both genetics and life experiences.
A)continuity-stages
B)nature-nurture
C)plasticity-formidity
D)stability-change
Q4) ________ is the start of menstruation.
Q5) Discuss three pros and three limitations of Piaget's theory.
Q6) A teenager is most likely functioning in Piaget's ________.
Page 12
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Chapter 11: Emotion and Motivation
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which two different terms best describe Schachter and Singer's theory of emotion?
A)Arousal and physiology
B)Behaviour and genetics
C)Arousal and context
D)Nature and nurture
Q2) Emotion is a(n)________ phenomenon, which is why it is difficult to arrive at one single definition of the construct.
Q3) Daniel works hard this semester because he needs to pass all the courses to graduate in time. This is one example of ________.
A)intrinsic motivation
B)extrinsic motivation
C)approach
D)avoidance
Q4) Emotional expressions are a method of ________ our inner states and intentions to others
Q5) The symptom of experiencing hunger but denying food is most likely to be diagnosed with an eating disorder called ________.
Q6) A predisposition toward certain stimuli, such as food, is known as ________.
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Chapter 12: Stress, Coping and Health
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Sample Questions
Q1) The fact that hassles can be used to predict psychological adjustment even when major life events are removed from the equation demonstrates which of the following concepts in this chapter?
A)Correlation versus causation
B)Replicability
C)Ruling out rival hypotheses
D)Occam's Razor
Q2) The field of ________ studies the effects of psychological factors such as stress, emotions, thinking, and behaviour on the immune system.
A)social psychology
B)organic medicine
C)psychoneuroimmunology
D)interactive psychology
Q3) Which psychologist is credited with proposing the general adaptation syndrome?
A)Hans Selye
B)Berkowitz
C)Holmes and Rahe
D)Lazarus
Q4) Discuss stress as both a cause and effect of illness.
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Chapter 13: Social Psychology
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173 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Research on inmates placed in solitary confinement suggests that they experience more psychological symptoms, especially mood and anxiety problems, than other inmates. However, this finding may be difficult to interpret because some inmates may be more emotionally maladjusted to begin with. Which of the six principles of scientific thinking does this research finding fit into?
A)Extraordinary claims
B)Replicability
C)Occam's Razor
D)Ruling out rival hypotheses
Q2) Wendy is walking down the street when she suddenly falls down and lands squarely on her backside. A group of girls standing about 50 feet away start laughing hysterically, telling each other what a klutz Wendy is. The unsympathetic girls in this group are making a(n)________ attribution to explain why Wendy fell down.
A)situational
B)negative
C)positive
D)dispositional
Q3) ________ is the tendency of people to change their behaviour as a consequence of group behaviour.
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Chapter 14: Cross-Cultural Psychology
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Sample Questions
Q1) Wierzbicka states that there is considerable diversity in the way in which different cultures and societies think about feelings, but she is certain that there are common, even universal emotions. When she says that the problem is "how to sort out the culture-specific from the universal", which principle of scientific thinking would you invoke in order to evaluate current or future research on universals?
A)Replicability
B)Correlation versus causality
C)Occam's Razor
D)Ruling out rival hypotheses
Q2) Outline the main features of the ABC model of culture shock. How does this model incorporate the features of earlier models of acculturation?
Q3) Anne Pedersen and her colleagues have studied how prejudice among Australians is often based on ________ beliefs.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Culture helps us to ________ ourselves and interact with others.
Q5) The way we think about ourselves and our place in the world is influenced by the ________ in which we live.
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Chapter 15: Personality
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Sample Questions
Q1) The role of environmental contingencies in producing different personality patterns was a key idea of the ________ view.
Q2) The idea that all psychological events have an underlying cause is better known as
A)common sense.
B)experimental psychology.
C)popular psychology.
D)psychic determinism.
Q3) Jennette scored very low on a measure of extraversion contained on a personality inventory she took in her psychology class. What can we predict about her likeliness to attend Saturday's homecoming dance?
A)This would indicate a preference for quiet, reserved settings, so she probably won't attend.
B)We would not do very well predicting her attendance at the dance.
C)Despite a low score on extraversion, if Jennette has nothing better to do, she will probably attend.
D)If her other scores on the inventory are high, she will probably attend the dance.
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Chapter 16: Psychological Disorders
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Sample Questions
Q1) For those people in the Middle Ages who believed abnormal behaviour resulted from spirit possession, the treatment of choice was ________.
A)herbal cures
B)"magic" potions
C)exorcism
D)trepanning
Q2) Tommy is a seven-year-old boy with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Which of the following would be inconsistent with this diagnosis?
A)He has difficulty with language skills.
B)He enjoys playing with his older brother.
C)He isn't interested in playing with anything except his Tickle-Me-Elmo toy.
D)He suffers from mental retardation.
Q3) A culture-bound syndrome that is seen in West Africa is ________, the symptoms of which include difficulties in concentrating, remembering, and thinking.
Q4) What are some important criticisms of the DSM-5 as a diagnostic tool for psychological disorders? Be sure to elaborate on your answers.
Q5) Contrast the demonic and moral treatment approaches of mental illness.
Q6) ________ involves an intense fear of being embarrassed or humiliated in public.
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Chapter 17: Psychological and Biological Treatments
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Sample Questions
Q1) Humanistic psychotherapists stress the
A)importance of assuming responsibility for decisions.
B)importance of the past over the present.
C)importance of the client-therapist relationship.
D)importance of neutral self-fulfillment in guiding one's behaviour and thoughts.
Q2) ________ is a statistical method that helps researchers to interpret large bodies of psychological literature.
A)Meta-analysis
B)Beta-analysis
C)Correlation
D)Standard deviation
Q3) The ________ perspective disagrees with the AA model of total abstinence from alcohol.
Q4) Which family therapy approach is designed to remove barriers to effective communication?
A)Stratified family therapy
B)Structural family therapy
C)Logical family intervention
D)Strategic family intervention
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